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Debian joins Desktop Linux ConsortiumDebian joins Desktop Linux ConsortiumPosted Feb 8, 2003 7:01 UTC (Sat) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330)Parent article: Debian joins Desktop Linux Consortium
Hey, I like Debian, run Debian on one of my machines. But Debian is not the most popular desktop distribution; the survey in question was an Internet self-selecting poll and Debian folks did a better job of stuffing the ballot box than fans of the other distros. Please don't embarrass yourselves by bragging about such results in press releases.
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Debian joins Desktop Linux Consortium Posted Feb 8, 2003 7:44 UTC (Sat) by socket (guest, #43) [Link] Well, notice the exact phrasing used....indicated that Debian is the most popular GNU/Linux Distribution How many distributions call themselves GNU/Linux distributions rather than just Linux distributions? This certainly doesn't excuse the attempt to pass off a self-selected web poll as something with any legitimate value. As a disclaimer, I use Debian for both my laptop and my desktop, and think it's a pretty decent distribution. Its severe faults are balanced by its really cool aspects.
Debian joins Desktop Linux Consortium Posted Feb 8, 2003 12:04 UTC (Sat) by stuart (subscriber, #623) [Link] Debian is used on the desktop! The fact that Debian users felt that they liked the Debian desktop and hence were bothered enough to register that fact says to me that it is a popular choice for the desktop.Just because the poll was 'self-selecting' doesn't mean that its completely wrong. In fact as a Debian user of some years, I was quite pleasantly suprised at how many Debian users must like Debian for the desktop. So perhaps the better question to ask, from your standpoint, is: Given that the Debian desktop is (according to some) out-of-date, klunky or just plain wrong, why do so many people like using it?
Debian joins Desktop Linux Consortium Posted Feb 8, 2003 15:20 UTC (Sat) by rknop (guest, #66) [Link] ..the Debian desktop... I exctract this because it crystalizes for me why this entire debate, on both sides, makes absolulely no sense. What is the Debian desktop? The same question could easily be asked about a number of other distributions. Debian has all sorts of packages in it; it's probably more complete as far as free software goes than any other Linux distribution. As such, "the" Debian desktop can be whatever you want it to be. It can be Gnome based, KDE based, various versions of either, etc. And if you don't like that, it can be FVWM based, or whatever the heck else you want. There is no such thing as "the" Linux desktop, unless you're talking about it in very general terms. The configuration of your desktop has far more to do with which software you choose to run and how you set it up than the distribution you get your software from. Even Red Hat 8, which pushes its own theme, can be custmized back to more standard setups, or to whatever else you want. It makes more sense to ask which distributions best enable desktop users, as in ease of installation, completeness of sofware, etc., rather than what their desktop looks like or does-- because by and large, what they can do is what they all can do. You can't say that the Debian Desktop is out-of-date, klunky, or wrong, simply because there is nothing that you can identify as "the" Debian desktop. -Rob
Debian joins Desktop Linux Consortium Posted Feb 8, 2003 19:17 UTC (Sat) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link] What is the Debian desktop?Well, they have done one or two things. There's the Debian menu package which works across window managers, and there's those (IMO ugly) themes for GTK, Mozilla, etc. Still a lot less than Red Hat Bluecurve, but it's something.
Debian joins Desktop Linux Consortium Posted Feb 8, 2003 19:09 UTC (Sat) by erich (subscriber, #7127) [Link] Mind you, Knoppix was shipped with a few PC Magazines in Germany these days, there's Lindows, there's Xandros, there's the Debian Desktop Project...Even my father and my mother are working on a Debian Desktop System. The survey certainly is biased towards Debian (as the Debian Developers are a quite big and active community) but Debian IS not only for servers. Also i remember that Debian won the Distribution Award (followed by Knoppix, then Suse) by the german "Linux Magazin". That one was a jury choice. Even if Debian is not everybodys choice (and i do understand why some prefer Mandrake, Redhat, EasyLinux and so on) it is still a good choice - and i did not want to try a different distribution yet, because i'm happy with Debian on my Desktop. Most problems people are having with Debian can be solved easily - we're maintaining a big FAQ in german at http://channel.debian.de/faq/ that answers most questions people do ask.
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